Dossier

In Memoriam

Art and Commemoration

In Memoriam is a Jewish Cultural Quarter educational programme based on a work of art with the same title by Willem Volkersz (1939).

The piece, made up of 172 wooden suitcases (with names and dates) and the neon figure of a boy, was created to commemorate pupils of Amsterdam’s 1st Montessori school murdered by the Nazis during the Second World War.

While participating in this programme, pupils nowadays learn more about those who were killed by consulting the online Jewish Monument. They then use the suitcases to re-create a new museum installation.

On 14 October 2016, pupils and former pupils of the 1st Montessori school, De Wielewaal, carried the suitcases from their school to the National Holocaust Museum. Working together with artist Willem Volkersz, they gave form to the first installation of In Memoriam in the NHM.

-